


Trauma

by AgentLin



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 23:09:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3668643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentLin/pseuds/AgentLin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all know Ian ran away to the military but he's been back for a year with no problem from MP's but no one really knows what happened while he was there. No one knows what happened when he was away in the military or why he ran off. But problems start up with the MP's again and the truth is revealed, no matter how frightening it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Reason Why

    Mickey woke up to the feeling of pleasure. Or well to Ian on his cock. Which by the way wasn’t the first time Mickey had woken up to that feeling or sight. Last night had been hot and heavy for both of them but Mickey could never really keep up with Ian’s stamina. They had this agreement between each other. Now that they were together Mickey wasn’t all that happy to have Ian working at a gay bar where he’d be showing himself off to filthy old guys, but Ian protested that they needed the money. So as a compromise Ian would work from like eleven to six and then come home. Then on any day of Mickey’s choosing he’d get his own personal dances from Ian - all night long, and including mornings.

    When the morning pleasures were over they went into the kitchen for breakfast. Svetlana usually always cooked in the mornings. After breakfast Svetlana and Nika went off to work since they had found another place where they could do their service with better pay and conditions, thanks to Ian who found them a place. For the rest of the morning Mickey and Ian would stay home taking care of Yev. Then it would be Ian’s turn to go off to work leaving Yev with Mickey for another few hours before the girls came back.

    Once he was all on his own he’d go down to the Alibi for a few drinks or whatever he’d find to fill the time before Ian got back. It was mostly over the weekends when he, Iggy and Colin would work on their scams. Whether it was the moving truck or whatever else they did. But today was Wednesday so he’d just be doing whatever it was that came up.

    This was their life, had been for the past year. Of course the whole fiasco with Ian being bipolar came up, but he was good now. Always taking his meds, Mickey made sure of that. Terry had died in prison a few months ago and thanks to the helpful Gallaghers his dad had ‘written’ in his will that he left the house to Mickey. And of course Mandy had come home finally ditching that useless boyfriend of hers. So now the two of them had a stable home and a stable life, doesn’t get much better than that does it, especial down in the South Side. But guess what, things can get worse, much worse.

♠♣♦♣♠

    Like I said Wednesday afternoon in the Alibi. Everything was calm for Mickey. Chatting it up with the regulars and with V. Heck Iggy showed up and they started playing some pool. But just as everything was good that worse shit happened. The bar went silent when two MP’s walked in and they didn’t look like they were there for a drink. Honestly anyone in that place could be in trouble with the military but those MP’s came up to Mickey.

“Are you Mickey Milkovich?” one of them asked,

“Why?” Mickey responded,

    The other guy held up a picture of Ian and he knew he needed to keep his cool. Fucken MP’s finally caught up to Ian, but what the hell, it had been a year, can they just let it go.

“Have you seen this guy?”

“Fuck no.”

    Obviously by Mickey’s tone he wasn’t gonna follow up on the question and he didn’t feel like talking. They got the message as well and held the picture up for everyone else to see. They were all asked if they had seen him but everyone said ‘no’. Mickey held his breath until they left and then placed his hands on the pool table.

“Didn’t Ian run off to the military about a year ago.” Iggy said,

“Shut the fuck up.”

    Mickey put some bills on the bar table for V and then left without saying a word. It was summer time which meant the Gallagher he needed to talk to was at home. He knocked on the door politely but got no response so he started pounding his fist against it. Finally Lip opened up and Mickey pushed past him getting into the house.

“Are you alone.” he asked when Lip came into the living room with him,

“Yea, no one will be home for another four hours. What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a fucken problem. Two fucken MP’s just came by in the Alibi looking for Ian. And they asked me personally first.”

“Are you fucken kidding me. That shit happened like a year ago. I thought they let that go. ”

“Yea you and me both.”

    Both boys were stressed out by the news. They had gone one year without having to worry about Ian’s military history but now it had finally caught up with him. Lip looked around the house anxiously. When he looked back to Mickey he sighed.

“There’s something I gotta tell you Mick but you have to swear you won’t tell anyone. Not Fiona and not Ian. You swear?”

“Jesus Christ, yes, I swear. What the fuck is it?”  

“Come on.”

    Lip gestured for Mickey to follow him upstairs. They went to his room and Lip began looking through a bunch of books he had. He pulled out this file folder filled with a lot of papers. He didn’t say anything and just stared at it for a while.

“Look I know Ian doesn’t like to talk about when he ran off to the military and neither do you. I mean we all ignore that and never ask about it but there was more to that than we knew. Ian was gone for just a couple of months but a lot happened in that time. Like this.”

    Lip handed Mickey the file. He wasn’t sure what was so bad but he read the name of the file ‘Project: O.C.’

“What the fuck is project O.C.?” Mickey asked,

“It’s a military project, the O.C. part stands for organic computer. That project was create to turn young soldiers into human computers. They’d implant them with technology and turn their brain into some form of heart-drive. The goal was to use them to secretly transfer information from one place to another. These guys would be stationed all over the world and in some high ranking places like the Pentagon and Area 51.”

“Holy shit.”

“Besides transferring secret intel they could also be used to steal information from other places. Use the tech in their minds to wirelessly download information from any computer system. But these human computers could also be remotely controlled. This was the latest weapon for the military. These guys would have all kinds of government intel stored in their minds.”

“And Ian signed up for this shit.”

“Not exactly, he was drafted into the project. But this thing has phases. The first part is the implant of the technology and turning the brain into a computer system. Then placing all that military intel into their minds. And finally before putting them into special training they mess with their minds.”

“What do you mean?”

“To make sure nothing held them back from trying to defy the military they needed to make sure they had nothing to come back to. Either they’d make them believe everyone they cared about was dead or they’d erase all their memories of their past life.”

Mickey opened the file and skimmed through the pages. He obviously didn’t understand anything but he smirked, “Guess neither of that worked. But are you telling me that your brother, my Ian, is walking around the place with military secrets floating around in his head.”

“Yea but there’s more to it. Look Mick…” Lip wasn’t sure how to go on but Mickey needed to know, “You know Ian could have gone his whole life without being bipolar.”

Mickey’s smirked faded, “Then why didn’t he.”

“Bipolar disorder is sometimes triggered by some traumatic event. When Ian left to the military he was fine but when he came back he had the disorder.”

“Yea, I guess this traumatic event happened there. I tried asking him about his time there but he doesn’t like to talk about it and I’ve stopped asking.”

“Mick…” Lip was having a hard time explaining. He flipped through the pages of the file and stopped at some papers, “Read that.”

Mickey wasn’t sure where this was going but he looked down at the file anyway and began reading, _‘Subject I. Gallagher…’_ but then Mickey stopped and looked at Lip, “I thought he enlisted under your name?”

“He did but he was found out. Instead of sending him back home the military decided to use him in the O.C. project.”

Mick nodded his head and continued reading, _‘...was ready for the final phase of the project before moving on to special training. Subject was sedated and ready for the memory fix operation, which would make the subject believe everyone he cared for was dead. Everything was going well till the subject began having some form of a seizure, he was violently thrashing around and if not pulled out in time would have perished. Afterwards subject was to get one week’s rest before he’d undergo the memory wipe operation. Further research revealed the cause for seizure in the subject was the certain death of a beloved by the name Mickey Milkovich. The death of this person was too much for the subject causing a mental break. The memory of that death will linger in the subjects mind for the week before the memory wipe.’_

    When Mickey finished reading he looked up at Lip with confusion. Lip noticed and explained some of the blanks.

“Since Ian didn’t go through the whole memory fix none of those false memories, none of those fake deaths were permanently etched in his mind. In that week of rest he was given Ian decided to run off. So he tried to steal a helicopter but crashed it instead to get away. He was more clear on what the military was trying to do to him so he stole his own file and left. I found that file in the trash the day after Ian had come home. I read through it and kept that to myself.”

“I still don’t get what the traumatic event was that triggered Ian’s bipolar disorder. What did the military do?”

Lip sighed and looked around the room, “They tried to kill you.” His eyes fell on Mickey, “The military tried to make Ian believe you had died in some horrible way and he couldn’t handle that kind of knowledge. So there's your traumatic event. Explains why he had been so high while he worked at the bar the first couple of weeks. The false memory of your death was still in his head and he probably couldn’t tell it wasn’t real.”

“No wonder Ian never talked about it.” Mickey was still a bit fazed by all this stuff,

    Ian had been part of some secret military project which led to him becoming bipolar. And now it seemed the military had come back to Chicago looking for him.

“I thought I had fixed this.” Lip mumbled to himself,

“How the fuck do you fix this.”

“With all the information in those files I could do a lot. When I got the chance back in my freshmen year in college I hacked into military systems and well Ian’s brain. Since his mind is like a computer I took all the military intel he had and stored it in a file that’s locked and password protected, so he doesn’t know what he knows. I also deleted my name and info from their records. As well as deleting Ian’s name and all of his files the military had on him. Including his subject file while he participated in project O.C.”

“So you’re telling me those MP’s aren’t looking for Ian to arrest him for that stunt he pulled with the helicopter. They’re looking for him to take him back into military custody and finish what they started with him.”

“From everything else that file says about him he seemed like the best subject they had for that project. Somehow they recovered or found another file on Ian. No fucken way they’re gonna let him go.” Lip had gone silent for a moment, “Fuck.” he shouted and hit the desk with fist,

“Calm down Lip.” Mickey said but Lip wasn’t having it,

“Mickey Ian is danger right now. We both are for knowing what Ian is, a military computer full of missile codes and alien discoveries. That file has your records in it and those MP’s went to you personally to ask about Ian. They know who you are and might come knocking at your door soon. And if they find Ian - they’ll take him and we’ll never see him again. Fuck.”

“Then what are we gonna fucken do. There is no way I’m letting any fucken MP’s take Ian away from me.”

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do Mick. Just don’t tell Ian about this, not yet anyway.”

“Alright fine I won’t say anything but think of something. I’ll go down to the club to keep an eye on him.”

“Be careful Mick, the MP’s could be monitoring you now.”

Mickey snickered, “I know how to get around the police. These military assholes won’t be that hard to shake.” **  
**


	2. Watch Your Back

    It took like five times longer to get to the club as Mickey stayed out of sight the whole time. He bought himself a drink and looked around the place for Ian. It didn’t take long before someone came from behind and hugged him. Then planted a little kiss on his cheek. Mickey would recognize his redheads scent anywhere so he knew it was Ian. If anyone else had tried that shit they’d be on the ground screaming right now.

“What are you doing here, Mick?” Ian asked still holding him in a hug,

“I got nothing better to do.”

“So you’re gonna stay here and keep an eye on me. Huh, it’s been awhile since you’ve threaten someone for looking at me too long.”

“Cuz those fucken idiots don’t know that they shouldn’t touch what’s not there’s.”

“Right, just keep doing shit like that and you’ll be banned from this place.”

“And I’ll drag your ass out with me.”

    Mickey put his drink down and brought Ian forward where he could see him. Ian sat down in his lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. He started moving his hips over Mickey’s crotch and leaned in to kiss his neck. Mickey let out a small moan and turned his head to the side to give Ian more skin to kiss.

“You gonna charge me for this?” Mickey asked,

    Ian kissed him on the cheek and then stood up. He grabbed Mickey’s drink and took a small sip.

“On the house.” he said before heading back into the crowd of bodies,

    Mickey stayed by the bar till Ian’s shift was over. He'd buy some drinks, Ian would come by take a drink talk a bit then go back to work. And Mickey lost track of how many people he flicked off for hitting on him. Or how many people he nearly punched for trying to get a little too physical with Ian.

    They both left together hand in hand. Ian expected to walk but Mickey pulled out his car keys. He had asked Iggy to leave the car by the club earlier that night. He did not want Ian out in the open for long. Ian was a bit surprised but he didn’t ask. He threw his things in the backseat and got into the passenger seat.

    When they got home Ian went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He shouted for Mickey to join him in the room and then he went down the hall. Mickey was about to follow when Svetlana grabbed him and shoved him against the wall.

“Why fucken military come by looking for orange boy?” she asked,

“Did you tell them he was here.”

“No.”

“Good.”

     Mickey pushed her away and cleaned himself off. He took the keys out of his pocket and threw them on the coffee table by the couch.

“Why is military looking for carrot boy?” Svetlana asked calmly,

“To arrest him for some serious shit he did when he ran off to the army.”

“What he do?”

“Um, going awol, destruction of military property and other shit.”

“Sounds hard core.”

“Yea, look if they come by again…”

“I don’t know no orange boy who was in military. I only know of orange boy that is sweet and takes care of you, me and baby. Goodnight.”

    She left and Mickey sighed glad to have home at least covered. He went to the room and found Ian sitting on the bed with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in his mouth. Ian patted the side of the bed next to him and turned on the tv. They had made some extra money before and put a tv in their room. Mickey took off his shirt and sat down next to Ian. He took the cigarette from him too.  

    They both stayed awake for most of the night with each other. Mickey was tempted to tell Ian about the MP’s looking for him. But at the same time he didn’t want him to worry. They had it good now, like before except this time the MP’s might not stop looking. After an hour the boys turned the tv off and snuggled up for bed. All Mickey hoped for was that he’d wake up tomorrow with Ian still sleeping beside him.

   ♠♣♦♣♠

    Mickey woke up to the shouting of his name. He wasn’t sure who was calling him but he turned over to see if Ian was sleeping. He wasn’t there. Mickey jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. He took a breath when he saw Ian making breakfast with Svetlana.

“Which one?” Ian asked,

“What?”

“Do you want bacon or sausage.”

“Yea right, um, bacon.”    

    Ian nodded and Mickey sat down at the table. The morning was going well, hopefully so would the day. He light a cigarette and allowed himself to calm down. But he kept his eye on Ian. Thankfully enough, well Mickey was grateful for an excuse. Ian was getting sick with a cold and Mickey refused to let him leave the house.

    He put Ian in bed and made sure he stayed there. Ian tried to get up and about but Mickey thought it best to keep in the room. He stayed with Ian in bed and would bring by his meds and some food. With Ian sick there wasn’t much Mickey could do. He called the club saying Ian would be out that day and put Yev to bed.

     Afterwards he went to the room and sat down next to Ian. He had been channel surfing to see if anything fit with his mood. He handed the remote to Mick when he came in. Mickey did a little channel surfing before he stopped. On the screen the movie ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ was playing.

“I wish I could drive like that.” Ian said as he watched the cars racing on the screen,

Mickey snickered since he could hear the stuffiness in Ian’s voice, “You’d also have to be bat-shit crazy to do those kind of stunts in real life.”

“I got the bat-shit crazy part covered remember.”

“Yea, I know.”

    They both watched the movie and drank some beer. Except Mickey wouldn’t let Ian smoke. His nose was all stuffy and his breathing wasn’t easy so he didn’t want Ian causing himself more problems. But Mick smoked and just for fun Ian would slowly lift his hand up to take the cigarette from Mickey. Ian would move slow and Mickey would always see him and swat away his hand. But after a few minutes Ian would do it again just to see Mick smile and laugh.

    After Mickey smoked like three cigarettes and swatted away Ian’s hand every two minutes they both settled down a bit. Mickey was still sitting leaning against the back wall. And Ian had settled to resting his head on Mickey’s chest. Mick could look down and see his redhead all snug and comfy.  

    It wasn’t till after the big car switch up scene that Mick noticed Ian had fallen asleep and had fallen into his lap. He didn’t move for a long while. He didn’t want to wake Ian up and he wanted to watch him sleep. Everything was so peaceful in that moment. Just the two of them in the room with the sounds of the movie off in the distance.

    A nice little moment of peace even if everything out the doors was completely fucked up. Mick lost track of time before he carefully moved Ian’s head on to a pillow. He quietly got out of bed and tucked Ian in. He stared at him for a while longer before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

    He went to the kitchen and quickly threw together a sandwich to eat. Iggy was out doing some shit, Mandy was who knows where at the moment and he could hear Svet and Nika giggling in the other room. After the sandwich he cleaned up the kitchen and the living room a bit. Just as he was going to head to the bedroom there was a knock on the door.

    Mickey stopped halfway to his room and let out a long frustrated sigh. He took his time walking back to the living room, not caring that the knocking got more constant. But as soon as it started getting louder he threw the door open and pushed back the person standing in the door.

    Turns out he nearly shoved Lip off his porch but he still didn’t give a fuck. He closed the door behind him and then leaned against it looking at Lip. He didn’t say anything at first. And Mick really didn’t have the time or patience for this.

“Did you fucken want something?” Mick asked,

“How’s Ian?”

“Fine. He’s sleeping, came down with a cold.”

“He got sick.”

“Yea, not sure how but working in place with a bunch of random people all over you. Guess it was bound to happen sometime right.”

“Yea.”

     Lip went silent looking around the place. The sun had set and it was getting late with every passing moment. Mickey could tell something was up with him and then the scent hit him. Lip was drunk for some reason and decided to come by for a late night talk.

“Any MP’s come by recently?” Lip asked all of a sudden,

“No nothing. They came by the other day but Svetlana took care of it. She won’t tell.”

“Good. I mean I haven’t seen any in a few days so that’s a good sign.”

     Mickey wasn’t so sure as to why Lip was even around but whatever. “You know he’s gonna find out eventually.”

“We can’t just tell him. I’m not even sure he knows what he is anymore. With all his meds and that bipolar thing he might not even remember.”

“Hey, don’t go blaming anything on his disorder. It’s not his fault your mom had the same shit.”  

“Yea and whose fault is it that he ran off to the fucken military to be a fucken soldier. That led to that gene being triggered and us being in this situation.”

“FUCK YOU!”

    Mickey didn’t waste time punching Lip in the face. It was a strong enough punch and since Lip was off balance he fell over the side of the stairs. Mick jumped over to where Lip was and kicked him a few times before getting down to his level.

“Next time you get hammered don’t come by here. And next time you feel like talking shit don’t come here either. You really don’t give a fuck about Ian. Cuz last time I checked I’m the one who's been keeping him happy and on his meds. When was the last time you asked Ian how he was.” Mickey kicked Lip again, “Ian is our family and those MP’s are our problem. You don’t talk shit about family or turn your back on them. Now get the fuck out of my yard.”

    The door to the house opened and Ian peeked out. He was drowsy from sleeping and his hair was a mess along with his shirt. He stumbled out just a bit to see Mickey standing over a coughing and heavily breathing Lip.

“What’s going on?” he asked still sounding stuffy,

Mickey smiled at him like nothing was wrong, “You’re brother's thrashed and came by. Guess he forgot how to use the stairs.” He went back and started ushering Ian back inside, “Come let’s go back to bed. You shouldn’t even be up. Now go I’ll be there in a sec.”

    He watched as Ian went inside and slowly walked back to the room. Then Mickey went back outside and stuck his head over the side of the stairs to see Lip still on the ground.

“I don’t know why you got drunk but be more careful what you say asshole. Come by again with that attitude and I don’t give a fuck that you’re a Gallagher, you’re dead.”

     Mickey went back inside and locked the door. Lip was probably losing it with having to watch every move he makes. He waited till he saw Lip get up and leave. Then he went back to the room. Ian had knocked out again and was peacefully sleeping. Mick undressed and slipped into bed with Ian glad to have him where he belongs. In his bed, safe and sound to sleep with.

   ♠♣♦♣♠

    Mickey woke up first the next morning. The sun had barely started to rise and Ian was still sleeping. He just lay in bed thinking everything over. He definitely needed to tell Ian about the MP’s, not just to warn him cuz Lip’s idea was stupid. Right, lets not tell the guy who’s in danger that he’s in danger. He lays in bed before he remembers he has something he needs to do.

    The house is pretty quiet and he makes himself some toast to eat. Svetlana wakes up soon after. She starts making a better breakfast for the others and they talk a bit. He grabbed some clothes from the room quietly and then headed out. But when he opened the door he was met by a not so pleasant surprise.

    Lip had just been about to knock when Mickey opened the door. Mickey rolled his eyes and stepped outside pushing Lip back. He closed the door behind him and stared at Lip.

“You sober?” he asked,

“Yea, yea just sorry about last night. I had one too many at the Alibi and guess all the worry about Ian came to the surface.”

“It was obvious you know.”

“Whatever, how’s Ian doing. You told me he had a cold yesterday.”

“He’s better now, still staying in bed. Svetlana will make sure he stays home today as well.”

    Mickey nodded and then passed Lip heading down to where the car was parked. Lip followed him and saw him pull out his car keys.

“Where are you going?” Lip asked,

“Gotta go get Ian a refill on his meds. And Svetlana needs me to buy groceries.”

“You get Ian his meds?”

“Yea, he hates going down to those places so I save him the trouble.”

“But don’t you need a prescription to refill those?”

“The first one the doctor gave him like a year. I kept it, made a copy and print one out with the date I need. I don’t wanna see a doctor either.”

“That’s pretty smart.”

    Mickey went over to the drivers side but he needed to talk to Lip about telling Ian. He opened the car door but then closed it and leaned against the car with his elbows leaning against the hood.  

“We have to tell Ian that the MP’s are looking for him.” he said,

“I think we should hold off on that.”

“Why, you find some way to work the system. Cuz last time you did that for him you fucked up. Then he kicked your ass.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you said you’d help Ian get into west point. So while you were hanging around college campus and meet a military colonel you asked him about west point and how to get in. Some time later badaboom, he stops by your house and hands Ian your application for west point. Really nice and sweet right.”

“Fuck, he told you about that.”

“Of course, after he threw you into the shower he came to me. Man he fucks good when he’s pissed.”

“Alright, I don’t need to know about your sex life.”

“Yea, but I’m gonna tell him soon. I don’t care what you do with that military intel you got but I gotta take care of him.”

    Mickey got into the car and drove off leaving Lip alone on the side walk. He knew he could trust Svet to keep Ian home while he was out. He stopped first to get Ian’s meds refilled then went to the grocery store. He was only gone for like an hour but a lot could happen in that time.

   ♠♣♦♣♠

     Mickey went into the house with the groceries, but the house was quiet. He placed the bags on the kitchen table and called out Ian’s name but got no response. Then Svetlana came into the kitchen wiping away some tears.

“What happened?” he asked,

    If there was one thing Mickey hated more than his dad it was seeing a crying woman.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t know what else to do.” she mumbled,

“Looks it’s okay. Where’s Ian, is he still sleeping?”

“No.”

Mickey screamed Ian’s name again but nothing, “Where is he.”

“He…”

“I won’t get mad just tell me.” Mickey assured,

“He woke up and I made him breakfast. He seemed fine then he said he was getting headache. I give him medicine and it works for a little. Then he says pain gets worse and he started screaming.”

“Is he okay?” Mickey asked anxiously,

“He passed out. I didn’t know what else to do, so I call ambulance. I’m sorry I know you wanted him home.”

“Hey, hey…” Mickey was speaking over her trying to get her to calm down, “It’s okay, you did the right thing.”

“Ig...Iggy went with him.”

“Yea, alright, I’m gonna get going.”

    Mickey was by far more afraid of going to the hospital and finding MP’s at Ian's door. But he needed to go to him. Svetlana had stopped crying and once Mick was sure she’d be okay he rushed to the hospital.

    When he burst into the waiting room Iggy got up to talk to him. He told him that the doctors said Ian was fine and just resting at the moment. Then Iggy assured him that there was no sign of any military personnel. Mickey thanked him for looking out for Ian and gave him the car keys.

    Iggy told Mick what room Ian had been put in and said he’d wait for them. Mickey stopped in front of the door where Ian was. He took in a few deep breaths before going inside. Thankfully Ian was awake and just staring out the window.

“Why does shit always happen when I’m not around.” Mickey said,

Ian turned to see him and smiled, “Ask the fucken universe.”

“Like that’s gonna happen sometime soon.” Mickey sat next to Ian and reached over to take his hand, “How are you feeling. When I got home Svetlana told me what happened.”

“I’m better. When I passed out I did hit my head a bit and started bleeding. Doctors took care of that.” Ian turned his head and Mickey saw the stitches he had on the side of his head. “I’m good.”

“You better be, but I could probably have gotten a lot of money out of suing the hospital.”

“If you say so.”

    Just then a doctor came in looking over a clipboard with notes, probably of Ian’s condition.

“Mr. Gallagher it says here you’re bipolar is that correct?”

“Yes.” Ian answered plainly,

“Have you been taking your medication as prescribed.”

“Yes.”

“Alright, can you think of anything that could have caused such a migraine?”

“No nothing comes to mind.”

“Wait this was a migraine?” interrupted Mickey,

“Yes, it seems likely. You’re better now Mr. Gallagher and can leave, but in order to prevent another one so soon I suggest lay off the caffeine of any kind, no pain meds if not necessary, try to avoid stress related situations.”

“Okay.”

    The doctor left them and Ian got out of bed grabbing his clothes. Mickey waited for him and they left together. It wasn’t all bad and Mickey was glad that Ian was okay, but he just wasn’t buying the migraine thing. Iggy drove them back home and they made a quick stop to get McDonald’s. Ian was pretty hungry as was Iggy but not Mick.

    They all stayed home afterwards and just watched movies. Ian was happy and was no longer sick but he could tell something was bothering Mick. But when ever he tried to ask Mickey would act as if nothing was wrong. So he’d let it go cuz Mickey would talk when he wanted too.

    Things got better when they both settled in to sleep. After some fun under the sheets they spooned with Ian being the big spoon and settled to sleep. But Mickey woke up in the middle of the night with no explanation. He sat up on the bed and pushed his palms against his eyes.

    For some reason sleep had left him and he knew he needed to get some things off his chest. He whispered Ian’s name and told him to wake up but he didn’t. He tried again and shook Ian but nothing. Then Mickey could see Ian’s lips moving and he leaned down closer to make out the mumbling.

“A01235794685112313589…”

    Mickey closed his eyes and just sat back up. He wasn’t sure what Ian was mumbling about but he knew it wasn’t good. Those numbers didn’t mean anything for him but he knew it was probably some sort of military code for who knows what.


	3. Complications

    The next morning seemed normal enough. But Mickey was still a bit weirded out from hearing Ian mumbling last night. He wasn’t paying much attention in the morning but he completely snapped out of it when he saw Ian with a small duffel bag.

“Where are you going?” Mickey asked,

“To work. I missed some days so my regulars are probably a bit disappointed. Gotta fix that.”

“The fuck does that mean.”

Ian laughed, “Nothing bad Mickey okay. But hey if it makes you feel better I’ll owe you a double night.”

    Ian went by Mickey and kissed him on the cheek before winking at him and leaving. Mickey watched him go allowing himself the pleasure of enjoying the view. But afterwards he was left alone. Svet and Nika had gotten a day off and took Yev out to the park. Iggy, Colin and his other brothers were either doing some scam or still sleeping.

    Then Mandy walked into the kitchen wearing a shirt and underwear. She poured herself some coffee that Ian had made. He always made morning coffee and always made sure to make a second pot for Mandy when she woke up later.

    When she had her coffee in hand she sat down across from him. She took a sip and then put it down looking at Mickey. He knew his sister well and he knew that she wanted to talk.

“How have you been?” she asked,

“Fine. Why?”

“I know about the military being after Ian.”

“Do you now.”

“Lip told me the other day.”

“Asshole.”

“Don’t blame him, he just wanted to make sure I knew before those MP’s came asking me questions. Where is Ian by the way?”

“Just left for work.”

“You sure he’ll be okay.”

“Yes he can handle himself.”

    They both got silent and Mandy drank more of her coffee. The silence grew more awkward with every passing second but Mickey knew Mandy wasn’t done talking with him so he’d wait.

“Look.” Mandy said, “I know you don’t ask Ian what he did in the military but maybe you should. He may not want to talk about it either but the more you know of his time with the military the more prepared you’d be in case something got bad.”

    Her words were quite inspiring to Mickey but not in the way she’d think. He got up and told her he had some things to do. She didn’t question him at all and just said ‘bye’ to him. Mickey went to his room and grabbed a sweater before heading out.  

    He decided to walk and went over to the Gallagher house. It didn’t matter if anyone was home since he did have a key. Ian had made him a copy just in case something ever happened. No one seemed to be home so he just went upstairs. He went into Ian’s old room first, grabbed a bag and put some of Ian’s things in it. He needed some kind of cover.

    Then he went into Lip’s room and looked for that file. Lip had move it’s hiding place, smart but Mickey didn’t plan on leaving without it. Eventually he found it in his pillow case along with a flash drive. Mickey wasn’t sure what it was but if it was with the file he was taking it.

    He put the file and flash drive into the bag and went down. Just as he was at the door he heard a voice behind him. It was Fiona.

“Mickey? What are you doing here?” she asked,

“Came to get some of Ian’s stuff.” he said pointing to the bag,

“Oh, well I’ve got some time before my shift starts. You want some coffee.”

    Mickey really didn’t wanna stay and chat but he didn’t want to seem like a douche either so he agreed to some coffee. He sat down by the counter and placed the bag on the floor. Fiona passed him a mug and he thanked her for it.

“So how’s Ian?” she asked,

“He’s been doing well.”

“Any trouble with him taking his meds?”

“No, well at first he wasn’t so happy but now he’s okay with it. Tells me sometimes he takes them so the rest of us won’t have to worry about him.”

“I probably should have noticed something was up when he came home after missing for so long.”

“What do you mean?” Mickey asked,

“He was all jumpy and energetic the way Monica is and then he was telling me he ran off to join the military. I was surprised since he was underage then told me he left because the military was trying to control him and he was sick of it. But I guess I was so caught up in having him back I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

    Mickey was speechless. He had actually told Fiona everything in a sense even if she didn’t understand.That means that when he had been back, when Mickey found him he did remember. Ian knew and was fully aware of what had happened to him in his time at the army.

“Mickey?” Fiona questioned since Mickey had been unresponsive,

“Hey I gotta go.” Mickey said all of a sudden taking a quick sip of his coffee then putting it on the table, “I just remembered I have something important to do for Svetlana or she’ll have my ass.”

“Oh, okay then. Wait one more thing. We’re having a party tomorrow. At the Alibi then bringing it back here for Carl. You know he’s getting out tomorrow.”

“It’s been a year since the rug rat got in juvie?”

“Yea, and I’m sure he’d love for Ian and you to be there. Tomorrow at two.”

“We’ll be there.”

    Mickey grabbed the bag and went out the back door. As he walked down the street he got a little frustrated since Ian would have to be out and about tomorrow even though right now all Mickey wants to do is hide Ian away. But he can’t so his best choice was to protect him.

    When Mickey got home he had the house to himself or at least he hoped. Mandy and Iggy were still hanging around. He nodded at them and just walked past them but Mandy stood up and got in his way.

“Talk.” she said,

“What the fuck you talking about?” Mickey said,

“You, stupid.” Iggy added and took the bag Mickey had,

“Give that the fuck back.” Mickey said but Iggy just pulled it away from him,

    Iggy went over by the kitchen table and emptied the bag onto the table. He was disappointed to see clothes but as he went through it he found the file and the flash drive. He picked up the file since Ian’s name on it caught his attention.

“Put that down.” Mickey said and tried to reach for the file,

“Hold up.” Iggy said stepping away from him,

“What’s been going on with you Mickey?” Mandy said, “You’ve been secretive lately and that’s not you.”

“Yea, you’ve been like that since those MP’s came to the Alibi looking for Ian.” Iggy said, “And what the heck is this?”

    Mandy went over next to Iggy and looked at the file. She pulled out some papers and read through them. Mickey was beyond frustrated and it was obvious he was going to have to explain everything to them. It’s not that he didn’t trust his own siblings but he didn’t want many people knowing about what was going on with Ian.

“Mickey this is some serious military things.”

    Both Iggy and Mandy were staring at Mickey looking worried. Worried that their brother and his boyfriend had gotten into some serious trouble and this time it wasn’t with the police.

“What’s going on Mickey?” Mandy asked and by the look on her face she was gonna get an answer one way or another,

    Mickey sat down on the couch and pushed his palms against his eyes. Iggy and Mandy joined him and sat down on his sides. Iggy was still looking through the file and Mandy was waiting for Mickey to speak.

    He did, eventually. He told them about how Ian ran off to the military and came back. Told them about project O.C. and that Ian had been involved. Mentioned how Ian had failed through the original final phase and while he recovered he had ran off with his file.

    He told them how Lip had discovered the truth about what happened to Ian and had done his best to erase Ian from military databases. But the military had found Ian again and he knew they didn’t plan to leave Chicago any time soon unless they had Ian in custody.

    Even if it wasn’t something good Mandy and Iggy were very interested and began to understand why Mickey was the way he was. And soon they started taking that responsibility and that protectiveness Mickey had over Ian and shared the burden.

    They stayed together and began reading through all the papers in the file trying to understand as much as possible. For the most part they were clueless since a lot of words were way too complex to understand. But they got the basics of Ian volunteering and being their best, typical.  

“Well I’m going.” Iggy said and got up,

“The fuck you going?” Mickey asked,

“I’m a go pick up Ian, unless you want him out on the streets.”

“Yea, okay thanks.”

“Be back in a few.”

    Iggy left leaving Mickey and Mandy on their own. Mickey put down the papers ands just sat back on the couch. Mandy could see the stress on his face.

“Don’t worry we’ll take care of Ian.”

    Mickey put his hand over Mandy’s. Most people say the Milkovich's don’t give a fuck about each other but they’re wrong. The family itself may be fucked up but the siblings gave a shit about each other. Mickey thought back to when he was in the closet. Frank had caught him and Ian and he was scared shitless the old bastard would tell.

    He was afraid his dad would find out. And he wasn’t just afraid for himself, he was afraid for Ian. Cuz he knew his dad wouldn’t just go after him. His fucken dad would have taken Ian and killed him in front of him then beat him to death.

    He was gonna kill Frank back then to protect himself and Ian. He remembered coming home saying they had to kill someone. Made some lame excuse about why Frank and his siblings just went along with it. Then when he said he’d go alone Iggy said they had his back and wouldn't let him do it alone.

    Mandy and Iggy knew the truth now and he knew he could count on them in helping to keep Ian safe. Iggy came back like an hour later with Ian. They walked into the room laughing about something. Ian went over to Mickey and kissed him on the cheek.

    All four of them stayed up late watching a movie. Iggy knocked out on the couch and after the movie they just left him there. Mandy said goodnight to the boys and went off to her room. Ian and Mickey did their nightly routine of brushing their teeth and having a little fun.

    That night the house was hot and Mickey found it hard to sleep. Ian on the other hand had completely knocked out. He was only wearing boxers as he lay on the bed with the sheets pushed down to his feet. Mickey just stayed up most of the night smoking.

    He hated that Ian had started mumbling in his sleep again. It made him feel like something bad was going to happen. Out of curiosity Mickey got down and looked at Ian. He knew it would be a bad idea to even try and wake him. So instead he reached over and carefully opened Ian’s eye.

    There was really nothing but then Ian’s eye glowed a techy green. Mickey jumped back and then fell off the bed. He his head hard and began swearing to himself. Then he looked up to see a sleepy Ian peeking his head over the side of the bed.

“Are you okay?” he mumbled,

Mickey saw that glow again, “Yea...fine just fucked up in moving around.”

“Well come on, get back up here.”

    Mickey rubbed the back of his head before getting back in bed with Ian. Ian smiled at him with lazy eyes. Mickey was still freaking out a bit on the inside but he kept cool for Ian’s sake. There was still so much more about that O.C. project than he knew.

♠♣♦♣♠

    The next morning Mickey was at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a laptop. He borrowed it from Iggy and the first thing he did was clear out the history. Then he started looking through the file again. Lip had added extra pages at the end with his own personal notes about what he’s done.

    Mickey wasn’t too happy about...hacking into Ian's brain but he needed to know just what kind of things Ian had in there. He had been right to take the flash drive since it did have copies of everything in Ian's head and a direct page to connect to Ian. The password was scribbled on a page and Mickey typed it in. Just then Ian came into the room smiling.

    Mickey didn’t try hiding the computer since that would only make Ian suspicious. And once he was logged in Ian put his hands on the table looking like he was about to faint. Mickey was immediately on his feet and by his side.

“Hey you okay?” he asked,

“Yea, fine just, my head felt weird for a second.”

    He instantly connected it to the fact that Mickey had just accessed the computer that is Ian’s mind. After he got what he needed he’d never do that again. Ian still felt a bit dizzy and sat down across from Mickey. Surprisingly enough he didn’t ask him what he was doing, a small relief for Mickey.

    He started looking through the files on the computer matching them with the list he had. Everything matched up except for something else. There was another piece of paper he hadn’t read the night before. It was about protocol.  

    As he read it he realized why Ian had been sick all of a sudden. It hadn’t been coincidence, it was all just protocol. Testing out Ian’s immune system and that headache wasn't a migraine. That day someone had been trying to hack into his head. This meant the military was still on him. And there was a very good chance they were getting closer, fuck.

    Later in the day Ian went out with Svetlana and Yev, something about going for a walk in the park. Mandy joined them promising Mickey she'd keep a close eye on Ian. He wanted to relax so he decided to play some video games with Iggy. Things were good and Mickey could relax for once. But shit like that never lasts.

    Just then there was some loud knocking on the door. Nothing bad came to mind but Iggy said he’d get it. Mickey kept playing and saying how there was no way Iggy would be able to beat him. When Iggy opened the door Lip came barging in yelling at Mickey.

“Where the fuck is it!” he yelled,

Mickey didn’t even look up at him and just kept playing, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The file you dumbass.”

    Lip stepped in front of Mickey and grabbed the controller from him. He then threw it across the room. Iggy started getting into the argument pushing Lip away from his brother.

“Back off Iggy, this doesn’t concern you.” Lip yelled,

“You got some problem with my brother then you’ve got a fucken problem with me.”

“Mickey just give it back. Not like you could understand any of it.”

“You calling my brother stupid?” Iggy said and you could tell he was getting threatening,

    Mickey stood up and had Iggy back up. Then he turned his attention on Lip.

“The fuck you care if I have the file.” Mickey said,

“Cuz you shouldn’t have it. I don’t know what the fuck you're planning with it or what you're gonna do with the flash drive. You might just sell it as far as I know.”

“Is that what you think?” Mick was getting pissed, “You think I’d put my boyfriend in any kind of danger.”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Mickey turned back to Iggy, “You put the flash drive somewhere safe?”

“Yea, and Mandy did who knows what with the file in the morning.”

“You told them.” Lip said,

“Sort of.” he turned back to Lip, “They seemed like they kind of planned to beat it out of me. Heck Mandy went with Ian and Svet to the park with Yev. Guess my family is doing a better job of taking care of him that yours has ever done.”

“Okay just stop with the hating on my family. Last time I checked Ian’s a Gallagher.”

“He’s your half, he told me he ain’t really Frank’s.”

“Alright look just give them back.”

“Why? What are you gonna do with them. Hide them in your room again where anyone could find them. I’d sure as hell love for you to explain everything with Ian to Fiona when she finds the file while cleaning.”

“I’d deal with it.”

“Like you deal with Ian. Look you go back to being a college student and studying for finals or whatever and I’ll handle Ian. Have been for a like a year.”

    Lip couldn’t even think of anything to say anymore and just pushed past Mickey and Iggy heading for the door.

“Hey I’ll see you later at the Alibi, maybe I’ll buy you a drink you bitch.”

    Mickey went to go grab the controller and examine it. Iggy grabbed his and just sat back down. Mickey joined him and they continued with their game like if nothing happened.

“Where is the flash drive anyway?” Mickey asked,

“Pocket, I keep it on me when I’m in the house. When I leave I just put it in your room.”

“Where.”

“Not gonna say.”

“Whatever, as long as you don’t get any ideas about selling the thing.”

“Naw, I can just copy something from it, put it on another flash drive and sell that.”

“Have you done that?”

“Where did you think I got the new games from. Besides deal done on the North side.”

    Mickey smirked and then they both high fived. They continued playing video games till the others came home. Mickey told Ian about the party for Carl and that he should freshen up. Ian kissed his cheek and said he’d be ready to go in a few minutes.


	4. Memory Lane

    When Ian and Mickey got to the Alibi everyone cheered. Carl ran up pushing past the crowd to hug Ian. Ian was glad to see his little brother and hugged him back.

“How was juvie?” Ian asked,

“It was awesome. You have no idea how many times Chucky tried some shit against me and failed.”

“You really did make juvie your bitch didn’t you.”

“Totally.”

    They joined the party. Apparently someone had gotten Carl a cake and they had been waiting on Ian and Mickey. It wasn’t his birthday but what was a party without cake. Though Debbie smashed his face in the cake. Everyone laughed and Carl just screamed throwing his hands, he was definitely enjoying himself.

    Calr talked with everyone and definitely had more confidence, guess juvie can help. He ended up with Ian by the bar. The were gonna have a drink but then Mickey interrupted taking the glass of beer from Ian.

“Hey, you know you can’t be drinking on your meds.”

“Aww come on Mickey, just a few drinks.” Carl whined,

Mickey just laughed, “Alright just a few but if he gets hung over you better come by tomorrow to take care of him.”

“You got it.”

    Mickey took a quick sip of the beer then gave it back to Ian. Then he laughed a bit at the thought of Carl taking care of Ian, one of the only Gallagher's he’d think would actually try. He looked around the room at the rest of the Gallaghers and kind of lost that smile.

    Ever since Ian helped his sister out in school that one day and after he and his brothers tried to kill Ian. Well they did stop but still after all that crap and Ian being Mandy’s fake boyfriend he knows that Mickey and his family, the Milkovich's took more care of Ian than any Gallagher ever did. But then again maybe Ian’s neglect had some reason.

    Fiona was the oldest and with both parents absent she had to step up. Lip was second oldest so he also has responsibilities. And he’s like the smartest kid he knows, so obviously everyone would push him to get out of the South and go to college, which he did.

    Debbie is the only other girl in the family and obviously Fiona was the only one who could help her with most of her girl problems so she needed the attention. Carl, kid just got out of juvie and he’s always been trouble so Fiona always had to be keeping an eye on him. And Liam, the youngest who definitely needs to be monitored all the time.

    Then there was Ian. Middle child, I mean with the ROTC he wouldn’t be around much either but still. Most of the time he knew Ian would be at his place either with him or Mandy. And even then Ian would always have stories of how no one cared for him much.  

    Everyone in the South knew the Milkovich's had like an inner circle and anyone in that circle was protected. Ian had always been a part of that, maybe not on behalf of Mickey at first but on Mandy’s behalf. She had always known about Ian and Mickey but kept quiet and still hung out with Ian so he’d have other reasons to be around for the sake of their father finding out the truth. They always had each others back.

    And now they had Ian’s as well. Even before things got serious Ian was always looking out for them and they’d always do the same. Like one time some creep was hitting on Mandy but she told him to fuck off cuz she had a boyfriend. Guy was so pissed he beat the shit out of Ian. After school Mandy brought him home and yelled for her brothers to help her.

    He was beat real bad and it took some hours to fix him up. After that they laid him down in Mandy’s room to rest. And once he was out Mandy told Mickey all about who had beat him and the next thing you know he was walking out the door with a bat and his brothers behind him. That guy definitely paid with lots of blood. And nobody saw him till the next school semester.

    Afterwards Ian stayed at the Milkovich's for a few days till most of the bruises faded. Mandy just made some excuse of a sleep over and what not. Ian actually thanked Mickey for the revenge. But things weren’t always so good between them.

    Mandy told him long ago, after Ian ran off that after their fight before he got married Ian had been crying in his room. He was heart broken and downstairs he could hear laughter and no one came to check on him. But then again there was some good in his family. Him and Lip were tight but that seems gone now.

    The party might be the first time Ian’s been around his family in a few weeks. But he was never that important as he’d say. When he got back from the military no one really noticed something was wrong, not until he wouldn’t get up from the bed he slept in at the Milkovich house.

    Gosh the amount of fear Mickey had around that time. Then he calls the Gallaghers for help and all they wanna do is send him to a hospital like their mom. Didn’t wanna give him a chance, like what if when he finally got up the first thing he’d wanna do is get himself checked out.

    Over and over again the Gallaghers would try and get Mickey to take him to the hospital but he said Ian would figure it out on his own. Mickey would just be there with him either way. Of course things got bad and he ran off with Yev, but everyone’s past that, Svet even forgave him.

    But those days without Ian he nearly broke but he wouldn’t give up on Ian. Seeing him sedated really hurt but he wasn’t gonna give up on him. The day they let him out of the hospital...Mickey went to go pick him up early and took care of all his meds. Hours later the Gallaghers came by to see Ian, kind of mad that he checked him out, he couldn’t care less.

    He did his best with Ian till eventually he did kind of stop with the meds and Fiona insisted on him staying at the Gallagher house, but screw them if they thought Mickey wouldn’t stick around. And even there surrounded by his siblings it wasn’t better for him.

    That shit with the bat...now Mickey realized just how frightened he must have been then. But even then who snapped him out of it, cuz last time he checked it had been him. While the ladies just stood around not being helpful at all. Then Mickey personally took Ian down to the clinic to get him some more meds since he had flushed the last ones.

    And again he was the only one taking care of him. Mickey met his mom once before the bipolar thing with Ian and boy was she a nut. But she was nothing like Ian. Sure she had some crazy kind shit but compared to Ian’s bipolar disorder she was very different.

    Mickey grabbed a beer and sat down in the bar. He took a drink then laughed. He remembered the time he and Debbie had killed Sammi or at least they thought they had. Mickey had just put Ian to bed and he wanted to deal with Sammi snitching on Carl.

    It was a few days after that when he was talking to Ian about going back to his house on the front porch. Mickey gave a long ass speech about how much he cared for Ian no matter how he was. Heck he said ‘I love you’ to Ian and Ian broke down in tears saying ‘I love you too Mick.’ Mickey held him and Ian agreed to go back to his place when Sammi just showed the fuck up and began shooting at him.

    Mickey ran as she chased behind him firing the gun. He knew Ian was right behind them but he was more worried for him than himself. Eventually in the chase they lost the cops and Mickey barged in through the front door of his house.

    His brothers were at the table and he told them to help him cuz some crazy bitch was chasing him with a gun. When Sammi came in to the house she stopped since Mickey, Iggy and Colin were all aiming guns at her. Then Ian came in and took the gun from her and hit her in the back of the head.

    He dropped the gun and hugged Mickey. And Mickey could hear how fast his heart had been beating out of fear. After that they just took Sammi’s body and threw it in the dumpster and she knew better than to try anything on Mickey again.

    Ian settled back into his meds, Mandy came back, dad was dead and gone so things were good for him. Till the day Fiona came by yelling about Ian being with him. It had been weeks since Ian had been back at the Milkovich house. She obviously hadn’t had time before to come barging in.

“Mickey look I know you mean well but he needs to be home where he can be taken care of.” she said almost pleading with him,

“Like hell. He’s staying here with me. He’s better off here than at your place.”

“And why’s that.”

“You got that crazy bitch Sammi on your tail. I rather Ian be here where I know he’ll be safe at all times.”

“Really you believe that.”

Mickey reached behind his back and pulled out two guns, “Yes. I’m very sure.”

She was losing it, “Mickey you’re not prepared to handle bipolar disorder. You’ve never dealt with it before.”

“And like you have.”

“Yes I have. My whole family has.”

“You know I’m sick and tired of all of you Gallagher's telling me I don’t know what I’m getting into. I’ve seen your mom and she’s nothing like Ian.”

“Oh yea really.” she was giving him attitude,

“Yes.” Mickey snapped, “When Ian ran off with Yev he took care of him. It was messed up but everything he did was for that baby. Ian told me about the time Monica let Carl drive a car which he crashed. If he crashed any harder he could have died, your fucken mom put him in danger.”  

    Fiona was rolling her eyes at him obviously not wanting to hear any of this but Mickey wasn’t done talking just yet.

“And I also know about when she found your squirrel fund thing and spent all the money on drugs. If Ian would find that kind of many he'd buy some beers and give the rest to me for paying bills.”

“That has nothing to do with this.” Fiona yelled,

“It has everything to do with this. The truth is you have dealt with bipolar disorder...from a drug addicted bitch who left you and your siblings to fend for themselves. So don’t tell me you’ve handled this before cuz so far I’ve done a better job than you. And I’ve done a better job of looking out for Ian these past years than you ever have.”

“Honestly.” Mandy had come into the room and was leaning against the wall, “Ian’s always been more of a Milkovich than a Gallagher.”

    Fiona didn’t say anything as she stormed out. Things between the two of them got bad for a while but eventually she cooled down and things went back to the way they were. Fiona would call now and then to check on Ian, some other Gallaghers were busy but everyone had problems in their own life to deal with first.  

    The party for Carl lasted for hours till the Alibi closed. They were gonna head over to the Gallagher house but Ian had one too many to drinks. And with his meds he had been trashed for a long time. So instead Mickey wanted to take him home. He called Iggy and told him to come by.

    When he got there Mickey carefully put Ian in the back seat and made sure he was comfortable. Then he got into the passenger seat with Iggy in the front. He turned on the radio as Iggy drove and kept the music down. He glance back every now and then to see Ian smiling like an idiot and babbling nonsense.

“A lot of drinks don’t you think.” Iggy said,

“Yea, but I guess he gets a pass on it. His brother just got back from juvie.”

“I remember when I got back from juvie the first time. You, Mandy and the others took me out for some drinks. Woke up the next day with some random chick.”

“Ah, yes good times.”

    They listened to the music from the radio for a while till Ian started mumbling some more. At first it was inaudible but his voice started rising.

“I love you Mickey.” Ian said in a childish tone,

Mickey grinned, “I love you too Ian.”

“Love you too Ig.”     

    Iggy laughed.

“Stop spreading the love.” Mickey said,

“And Mandy…” Ian mumbled,

“Yea okay if he starts listing people he definitely had one to many.” Iggy commented,

“They were all so nice.” Ian continued, “They took care of me. Treated me like family. Had me join their secret project.”

    Iggy slammed on the brakes and then he and Mickey turned around to see Ian.              

“What are you talking about Ian?” Mickey asked,

“Huh? The military...they were nice...gave me some cool drugs every now and then but sometimes I’d get these bad headaches. They said it was okay and that I’d be fine.”

“Ian what are you talking about?” Mickey asked,

“Project...O.C. where I learned...where I was trained...where…”        

    Ian knocked out then and Iggy just got back to driving. Mickey stayed where he was staring at Ian. Now he was beyond worried.

“Did Ian just drunkenly confess some of that military stuff to us?” Iggy asked,

“Yea, but I doubt he’ll remember.”

“Then what are we gonna do?”

“I’m gonna have to seriously talk with Ian about this. When he's sober and of sound mind.”

“What the fuck does that even mean...of sound mind.”

“Not sure but I think it means when he’s mentally better, you know for him.”

“So like in a few days.”

“Yea pretty much.”

    Mickey called Mandy and told her Ian was thrashed and that he’ll probably need a bloody mary tomorrow and some other pills. When they got home Mickey carried Ian up to the house but he was mumbling those numbers again.

“Is that normal?” Iggy asked,

“Yea, he’s been doing that for a while.”

    It was already late when they got home but Mandy was still up waiting for them. She was in the living room watching tv when they came in.

“Is what normal?” she asked then she heard the mumbling, “I wondered what the fuck that was.”

“Yea well let me get him into bed.”

    Mickey said goodnight to his siblings then took Ian to his room. He carefully laid him down on the bed and began taking off his clothes. It made him think of another time he brought Ian home the same way. Back when he had been high on coke and had just gotten back from the army.

    Those times hurt both of them but it needed to be talked about no matter how badly they wouldn’t want to. Once he was sure Ian was comfortable he got into bed next to him. It took a bit but eventually he fell asleep.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit most of Mickey's yelling and opinions are kind of how I've viewed Ian's treatment with his own family. And also enjoy some of my own little re-writes for some cannon scenes.


	5. Confessions

    Mickey woke up early the next day and let Ian rest. He couldn’t wait to see how he’d be when he woke up. In the kitchen was breakfast was done and Nika had made Ian that bloody mary, Svet told him she was really good at that.

    He sat down at the table and ate with his siblings. Iggy was going downtown with Tony later to sell something else, said he’d get a lot of money. So they were planning on throwing a party sometime that week. Maybe this way Ian could quit his job, Mickey still hated that place.  

    After breakfast he was gonna go wake Ian up cuz he needed to eat something. The rest of his siblings were somewhere in the house and Svet and her girl left for some time alone. So Mickey had to take care of Yev which he didn’t mind, he just wanted to get Ian up first. Just as he was going to wake Ian up there was a knock on the door.

    It was always the fucken door. He went over to the door and opened it. He was expecting Lip or maybe even Carl but he was so wrong. Instead two MP’s stood in front of him.

“Is this the residences of the Milkovich family?” one asked,

“Who the fuck wants to know?” Mickey countered,

“We believe you're harboring a fugitive from the army, by the name of Ian Gallagher.”           

    Without invite the MP’s came into the house and started looking around in all the rooms. Mickey was panicking and he felt like just tackling them to the ground. But if he tried anything then they’d know something was up. And he’d get his whole family in trouble.

    As the MP’s looked around and practically trashed the place they didn’t find anyone. He started worrying about where his brothers and sister were. Then the military pricks got to his room and he swore he’d get a gun and shoot them if they tried taking Ian.

    The two guys stood at the foot of the door and saw someone sleeping on the bed. Mickey’s heart was beating so loud he could hear it and it felt like it was gonna explode.

“Sir?” one of the MP’s said,

    The guy was just about to step into the room when Mandy came out of the bathroom. She was wearing some loose shorts and was completely topless.          

“What the fuck!” she shouted when she saw the MP’s,

    She reached for a shirt from the ground and covered herself with it.

“What is going on?” she yelled,

“I’m sorry mam.” the MP said, “We were searching the house?”

“What for?”

“A fugitive.”

“Yea sure you are.”

The guy turned his attention back on the bed, “Who’s sleeping?”

“Oh god.”

    Mandy grabbed one of the picture frames from the dresser and tossed it on the bed. Mickey was gonna kill her but changed his mind. The picture startled the person on the bed and he got up.

“What the fuck Mandy?” Iggy complained as he got up then he noticed the MP’s, “What the fuck is going on?”

“I’m sorry sir. We’ll um...be leaving now.”

    The MP’s excused themselves and left the house. Mickey followed them out and waited till they were long gone. Then he ran over to his room. Mandy was sitting on the bed smoking one of his cigarettes and sharing with Iggy.               

“What exactly happened here?” he asked,

“Heard the MP’s at the door.” Iggy said, “So I told Mandy we had to hide Ian.”

“And where the fuck is he?”

“On the floor over here still asleep by the way.”

    Mickey walked over to the other side of his bed. He smiled at the sight. Ian was on the floor wrapped in a blanket with his head on a pillow and wearing some headphones.

“Get him back on the bed.”

    Iggy got up and helped Mickey get Ian back on the bed. He was gonna wake up with a really bad headache if he was still sleeping. Mickey took the cigaret from Mandy.

“Hey go make Ian his breakfast.” Mickey said to Mandy, “I’m gonna wake him up.”    

“Alright.”

“And Iggy.”

“Yea man.”

“Get the fuck off my bed.”  

    Iggy got up and left the room. Now it was just him and Ian. He couldn’t help but smile at his red head boy sleeping, he was glad he had avoided losing him altogether. Mickey got on the bed and laid down next to Ian.

“Ian.” he whispered, “Ian.”

    Ian groaned in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Mickey he smiled.

“Good morning.” he said,

“Hey, did you sleep well.”

“Yea.”

“Well get your ass up breakfast is done.”

    Mickey went out to the kitchen where Mandy was making some french toast. Iggy was working on a bloody mary for Ian. And his brother really knew how to make them.

“Hey Mick.” Mandy said,

“What.”

“I think you and Ian need to go.”

“Huh?”

“I’m just saying, those MP’s showed up today out of nowhere searching the house. They could have found him and then what the hell were we supposed to do.”

“She’s got a point.” Iggy added, “I hate to say it but those MP’s see Ian as military property. They aren’t just gonna let it stay in the hands of some South Side teens.”

“Fuck ‘em.” Mickey said, “Ian was south side before those fucken military dicks got their hands on him. He belongs here, not in the fucken pentagon next to a general.”

“Look I’m just suggesting you and Ian getting out of town for a while. You know just till the heat dies down and those MP’s get the fuck out of here.” Mandy said,

    Mickey sat down at the table and rubbed his eyes. His sis had a point, leaving would be a good idea but wouldn’t Ian get suspicious. He couldn’t just pick up an leave, plus Ian was hungover, he was in no condition to be doing anything.

    Just then Ian came into the kitchen all groggy and tripping over his feet. He seemed fine, happy, since he was clueless to the very close call they just had. He sat down next to Mickey and Iggy placed that bloody mary in front of him.

“I guess I finally get to try Ig’s famous bloody mary. Bon apeti.”    

    Ian chugged half of the bloody mary before making a sour face. He looked like he might throw up but he was fine.

“I hope you can swallow breakfast better than that.”Mandy said as she placed a plate of french toast and eggs in front of him,

“Mick’s got something Ian could swallow.” Iggy added,

“It’s too early for jokes.” Mickey spat but Ian only laughed,

    Once Ian calmed down he ate breakfast. Overall it seemed like a good morning for everyone. Since Ian was somewhat hungover he wasn’t going to work. Mickey like Mandy’s idea of leaving town for a while but he’d need to figure out where to go and he needed to talk to Ian about all of this. So that was it, he’d find some place to go and talk to Ian.

    After breakfast Ian went back to sleep. He was still all messed up and that gave the rest of the Milkovich's the chance to talk. They cleaned the kitchen and waited a while to make sure Ian was asleep before they began talking.

“You two need to bail.” Mandy said,

“Yeah. It’s best for both of you.” Iggy added,

“Okay, but where would we even go?” Mickey asked,

“Road trip. Go travel around the country and stuff. It’s better then just leaving and going somewhere else.” Iggy said,

“But he’ll be out in the open more.”

“There looking for him here you idiot. Once they realize he ain’t here they’ll leave and you two just come back.”

“I’ll leave alright but I can’t just tell him to pack his shit. Today I’m talking to him about this. Once we both know what’s going on then he’ll be more than happy to leave with me.”

“Then I leave the house to you.” Mandy said,

“Yeah, I’ll get out of here too.”

“Thanks.”

♠♣♦♣♠

    It wasn’t till half past two that Ian actually woke feeling sober. He was groggy but he was definitely more himself. Mickey had been playing some video games when Ian came into the living room.

“Where is everyone else?” Ian asked still sounding sleepy,

“Who gives a fuck?” Mickey responded, “Now come on, sit down and grab a controller, we’ve got to talk.”

“Okay.”    

    Ian grabbed the controller by the tv and sat down next to Mickey. At first he did terrible since he was still half asleep but in matter of minutes he was playing like a pro.

“When did you get so good?” Mickey said,

    That was the point of playing the game. Mickey knew he wasn’t so good at these things but now he was, better than ever before. It was a stupid test but Mickey wanted to see if this would actually prove something, to him anyway.

“What did you want to talk about?” Ian asked,

“You?”

“Okay. What about me?”

“You’re time at the military.”

“Mickey...I..”

    He knew Ian wouldn’t be so open to talking about it but they had to. Mickey grabbed his military file he had been hiding at his side and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. Once Ian saw the file he stopped playing and leaned back into the couch.

“How long have you know?” Ian quietly asked,

“About a week or so. Some MP’s came to the Alibi asking about you. I didn’t say shit and then immediately went over to talk to Lip. He told me he found that file in the trash after you got back. He didn’t say anything since he knew you’d want to forget about it.”

“It was a stupid thing. I should’ve just come back.”

“Well all do some stupid things in our lives.”

“There are MP’s looking for me then, right? That’s why you're telling me this.”

“Yeah, they’ve figured out you’re here and they’re looking for you.”

“I’m sorry...I should have told you sooner.”

“I’m not mad Ian, just worried. I don’t blame you for not wanting to tell me. What they did to you was horrible.”

“I volunteered for it Mickey. I knew exactly what I was doing. I thought maybe I could start over with a new life...but I couldn't, I couldn’t be without you.”

“That’s one hell of a way to say I love you.”

“Yeah.”

“Ian you gotta tell me what happened, everything.”

Ian dared to glance up into Mickey’s eyes. His tugmuffin seemed just as caring as always and Ian knew it was time he told him everything.

“When I went home...that wasn’t my first time back.” Ian said, “I had been in town for a couple of days before that I was just disoriented. I couldn’t really tell which of my memories were real or not.”

“We’re all still here Ian, unfortunately so is Frank.”

Ian laughed, “Yeah, I wish that memory was real. I...I did try to come here. I wanted to know whether your death was real or not...but the memory was to painful I couldn’t even stand to look at the house.”

“I was here man, the whole time.”

“Sometimes...sometimes I’d be across the street and look at the house. I couldn’t do that for long before the memory would pop up. I did try but once I started to tell what was real I still don’t know if you were...real.”

    Mickey moved closer to Ian and grabbed his hand. He placed it over his heart and let Ian feel the blood flowing through his body.

“I swear to you I’m real and alive.”

“I know that now.”

“Good. Now with all this shit we need to leave town for a bit.”

“Wait, what?”

“Those MP’s are gonna keep looking for you here so we need to not be here.”

“But what about my family? And yours?”

“My family don’t really give much of  a shit but Mandy, Iggy and Svet know, they’ve been helping me hide you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so their cool with you and me leaving but...you can tell your family we’re going on a road trip.”

“They’ll believe that.” Ian said,

“Good so pack your shit.”

“How long will we be gone?”

“I don’t know. A couple of weeks maybe a month or two.”

“Okay.”

    Ian got up heading for the bedroom and Mickey shut off the game console. They were gonna leave and by sunrise tomorrow they’d be out of the city or at least that was the plan anyway. As soon as Ian got up and made his way over to the bedroom he collapsed on the floor. Mickey quickly ran to his side.

“Ian! Ian!”

    His boy wasn’t responding. Mickey shook him and told him to get up but Ian just remained still. That's when he noticed the small dart in his neck.

“Shit.”

    He knew it was too late. Ian had been found out and any second now MP’s would bust through the door and take him. There wasn’t much he could do since it was just the two of them home but he wouldn’t just let this happen. Mickey went over and grabbed the gun under the coffee table.

    The front door flew open and there was a crash from the kitchen door. Mickey loaded up the gun and had his hand on the trigger. He counted in his head before standing up and firing two shots. He hit two MP’s before ducking down again, guess they weren’t expecting him to actually be armed. He counted again before getting ready for his next shoots.

    The only thing was that they were ready for him this time. When he stood up he immediately felt a pinprick on his chest. He fired off two more rounds before the drugs took effect. He dropped the gun and pulled out the dart. He threw it off to the side and fell to his knees. His head was already spinning and his vision was filled with the military cameo colors.

    He tried to reach Ian but he barely had the strength to keep his eyes open. He saw some MP’s pick Ian off the ground and carry him off. Mickey wanted to yell, to scream Ian name but his throat refused to work. Darkness began to fill his vision as he watched those people take away the only thing Mickey ever really loved.

    Even with the inevitable end he didn’t want to close his eyes. He wasn’t fighting the drug anymore so he could get to Ian. He only fought it because he knew that when he’d open his eyes again Ian would be long gone. If he closed his eyes then the next time he’d open them he’d  have to face the reality of what just happened. He would never see Ian again...or at least not the Ian he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is super long over due but school has been a bitch and I swear on my life that this fic will be finished before your calendar says 2016, my Christmas present to you I suppose


	6. Treason

Mickey’s hands were cold, his eyes were heavy and he could feel the tears on his cheeks. He didn’t want to open his eyes, he didn’t want to face the facts. It was all over for him and he didn’t know what to do anymore. Ian was gone, take in front of him and even if he was a Milkovich there was no way he could get Ian. Messing with the Military would end up in everyone wondering who the fuck are the Milkovichs’.  

After who knows how long Mickey started to move in order to get up but once he placed his hand on the floor he knew something was wrong. The ground beneath him wasn’t his wooden floor, but cold metal. His eyes flew open and he realized he wasn’t home. He sat up and started to feel the movements of the truck he was in.

“Nice to see you here.” 

Mickey turned around to see Lip sitting on the other side.

“What the fuck is going on.”

“MP’s broken into my house, knocked me out, figure the same happened to you so they must have Ian. Now you and me are just chained up in the back of a military vehicle.” 

Lip lifted up his hands to reveal the cuffs then Mickey looked at his own and realized the same. He moved to the sides so he could lean against the wall and tried to process everything.

“We were planning on leaving you know.” Mickey said.

“Really? Where were you going?”

“Everywhere and nowhere I guess. I just knew it was best if we weren't in the Chicago-land area you know.”

“Were you gonna mention it or were you just gonna take off?”

“I wanted us to be on the road for a few hours before giving you guys a call.”

“Should have left sooner.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to talk to Ian first, show him the file and tell him what was going on. I know you didn’t want to tell him but he had to know.”

“I suppose you're right, except we’re still fucked.”

They rode in silence for what felt like hours. They weren’t sure where they were going but they knew that whatever happened next would be far from good. Once the vehicle stopped they looked at each other. The back doors were open and some MP’s violently pulled them out. When they were outside they could tell they had been brought to some off sight Military base.

They were shoved and forced to walk towards the base. Mickey knew this was way worse than prison. When you walk into prison you have a good chance of getting out. Good behavior, bail, over crowding and what not but walking into a military base, getting out is a fucken miracle.

When they were inside there wasn’t really much to see besides grey walls. They were taken pretty far inside and nobody spoke. It was no surprise when both boys were placed in a cell without getting the handcuffs removed. The metal door shut behind them and locked them in. The only thing in the room was two beds on either side and a toilet in the middle.

“You’d think the military, with all it’s money, would have better prison cells.” Mickey said.

“They’re the military Mickey.” Lip said and sat down on one of the beds. “They make it crappy for a reason.”

♠♣♦♣♠ 

They had no clock, so time was meaningless. They didn’t talk much since it was a dangerous idea to share with each other what they knew. At some point some MP’s came by and took them somewhere separate. Mickey was let into what was obviously an interrogation room. He sat down and placed his hands on the table waiting for his interrogator. Wasn’t long before some guy came in, surprisingly, wearing a fancy suit.

“Michael Milkovich.” He said. “You’ve got quiet a criminal record.”

“Welcome to the fucken South Side of Chicago.” Mickey said.  


“Care to explain your relationship with Pvt. Gallagher.”

“Boyfriend, lover, partner, future husband. However you wanna label it.”

“So you’re close to the subject.”

“Balls deep bitch.” Mickey said. “Look I’m sure you’ve got more important questions to ask me than how was my fucken day.”

“How long have you known of Pvt. Gallagher’s condition.”

“A few weeks.”

The guy nodded his head and went for the door.

“Is that it?” Mickey questioned. 

The guy didn’t answer and just left the room. The door shut and Mickey was sitting in silence again. He stayed there a lot longer before more MP’s came in. They didn’t need to speak for Mickey to know they were gonna take him somewhere. He expected to be placed back in that cell but instead he was taken to some other place.

It was a lab but not the one with the chemicals and shit. It was more of the technical shit with all kinds of hardware. Lip was already there sitting by a table. Mickey was taken over there and sat down next to Lip. In front of them was a glass wall but the other side was dark. Just then the lights were turned on and Mickey jumped up.

On the other side of the glass Ian was forcefully brought into a room. The MP’s that brought him in strapped him down to a chair. Then two other guys in lab coats came in as well. One of them sat down by the computer system next to Ian the other grabbed a syringe from the table. The guy injected the stuff into Ian and then he relaxed.

The MP’s by Mickey grabbed him and forced him to sit down. Back with Ian they attached these things to his head and then one guy was holding some needle connected to a wire. He stepped around and placed the needle behind Ian’s neck.

“Is this some sick joke.” Mickey yelled.

“This is an examination of an asset.” 

Some other guy in military uniform came in. When he entered all the others stood at attention and saluted. It was easy enough to tell that whoever this guy was, he was a general. He stood in front of Mickey and Lip and stared into the other room. The guy by the computers was typing away filling the screens with incomprehensible codes.

“Philip Gallagher. You have quite a reputation on you. Brilliant student with a military grant.” The General said. “Michael Milkovich. You don’t even have a high school diploma. Now how is it that two different people such as yourselves end up in the same corner.”

“It’s a free country. I can do whatever I want.” Mickey said.

“I’m aware of how you know about the asset-”

“Oh you mean Ian. And a quick memo, he’s a human being, just like me and I guess you too.”

“Mickey shut the fuck up.” Lip said under his breath.

“No. This douche brought us here. The least he can do is tell me what the fuck they’re doing to Ian.”

“Checking the heart drive.” The General said. “This asset has been missing for a while. Now that it’s back we need a full examination.”

“You’re asset is a person you fuck.” Mickey shouted. 

    The guy on the computer finished up whatever he was doing and then turned around to give the General a thumbs up. The General sighed and then waved his hand. Immediately the MP’s grabbed Lip and Mickey and dragged them out of the room. They were taken back to the holding cell and this time the cuffs were removed.

♠♣♦♣♠

Lip was pretty much just done. He laid down on one of the beds staring at the ceiling. Mickey on the other hand was pacing around the small room. He wanted to know what the hell they were doing to Ian.

“Stop pacing for god's sake.” Lip said.

“Shut up. You didn’t do shit back there.”

“Oh, was I supposed to run my mouth in front of a fucken general.”

“You could defend you brother and actually give a shit. I mean look at you, you’ve given up on him.”

“What am I supposed to do. To these guys Ian’s military property and we were harboring him. We’re already seen as criminals in their eyes. I didn’t need to make my chances of getting out of here alive any worse.”

“Your last name may be Gallagher but you're nothing but a whiny bitch.”

“A whiny bitch getting a college degree you high school dropout.”

“Was that supposed to be an insult.”

“Take it how ever you want. All this stuff, Ian did this to himself the moment he signed up for the army.”

“It’s not on him.” Mickey whispered.

“What?”

“I said it’s not him. I’m the one who was with him.” Mickey said. “I’m the one who got fucken married and pissed him off. To the point where signing up to join the army was the best way to get away from me. And even then he came by and I didn’t have the balls to stop him or fix what I broke.” 

Mickey pressed his face against one of the walls then banged his fist against it.

“If I had just fucken said something he would’ve never left. We wouldn’t be here, he wouldn’t be fucken military property and he definitely wouldn’t have bipolar disorder. All this...it’s on me.”

“I’m sorry Mickey.”

“You’re not, you haven’t done shit.”

“Because it’s too fucken late." Lip countered. "They have Ian again and now that they’ve confirmed that all his intel is intact there gonna wipe his memories. They’re gonna turn him into a perfect soldier and were just here to watch. We’ll be lucky if we get to leave here alive.”

A tear slipped down Mickey’s face. “My fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays Everyone!!!


	7. Fairy Tale Ending

The both boys remained in the cell for the next few hours. Lip stayed silent on his bed while Mickey kept pacing around. He couldn’t sit still since every waking moment all he could think about was what was happening to Ian.

“He’s gonna be fine.” Lip said. “Even if we won’t see him again. The military will take care of their property.”

“He’s not property.”

“That’s how they see him.”

Mickey sat down on the other bed his leg shaking. He didn’t really understand how Lip was so calm but maybe he knew something he didn’t. If this was really the last time he’d ever see Ian then it was very likely the last time he’d talk to any Gallaghers.

“I knew the whole time.” Mickey said.

“Knew what?”

“Where Ian was when he disappeared. He didn’t tell anyone he signed up for the army, but he told me.”

Lip got up and sat on the edge of his bed. He could tell Mickey wanted to get this off of his chest, so he’d listen. 

“And all the times I asked, or when any of my siblings asked you where Ian was, all you ever said was you didn’t know and you didn’t give a fuck.”

“I was a joke, even to myself. It was pretty obvious we were a thing, or that at least we were banging.”

“Everyone knows you care about Ian, so why did you lie?” Lip asked.

“Guilt, I don’t know man. I knew but I didn’t say shit, didn’t want to take the blame.”

“Nobody would have blamed you. Besides he was in the army, not really anything we could have done to get him.”

“Right...do you think we’ll get out of here alive?”

“Maybe.”

The door to their cell opened up. Nobody came in but the MP’s stayed outside. Both boys glanced at each other before getting up and getting out of the room. They weren’t cuffed this time and just taken to an interrogation room. They waited in silence till the general came in.

“You two have caused me some problems.” He said. “And I have been told the best course of action is to eliminate you both from the face of the planet. Yet I have other ideas. Pvt. Gallagher has finished with phase three of the project.”

“No offense sir but I see no way how that information has anything to do with us.” Lip said.

“I am willingly to allow you both to see Pvt. Gallagher once more if you agree to never speak of this again.”

“What’s the point of seeing him again if he doesn’t know who we are?” Mickey asked.

“A test, see if he even recognizes you.”

“Gonna torture us.”

“You’ll see him either way but whether you leave here alive depends on your compliance.”

“We won’t tell anyone.” Lip said. “They wouldn’t believe us anyway.”

“Good then.”

The general left the room and the door was locked behind him. Mickey didn’t see the fucken point in seing Ian, it was just torture. What would they even tell him. Mickey felt like breaking down, he didn’t want to see Ian, not when he knew that in his eyes there would be no emotion. 

Just like before there was no way to tell the time, no way to count down to the agony that awaited. Mickey heard the door being unlocked and closed his eyes. He heard the footsteps of someone walking in and taking a seat across from him.

“According to your files you’ve screwed around with multiple military vehicles.”

Mickey almost felt like laughing. That was Ian’s voice but it was different. It was colder, more official and he didn’t want to look up.

“Mr. Milkovich is there are problem?”

Mickey took in a deep breath and looked up. “No.”

Ian only looked at him for a bit before going back to the file he held in his hand. This was obviously some sort of test for Ian, thinking that they were some low level criminals.

“But apparently charges have been dropped for you guys. I am in no position to know why so I suggest you take this mercy.”

“So you must be new.” Lip said. “You know this is your first time doing something with the army.”

“That really isn’t your concern.”

“Just curious.” 

Ian rolled his eyes and just placed all the papers back in the file. He stood up and opened up the door.

“I’ll be escorting you two out of the base and point you in the right direction to get home.” 

Mickey and Ian stood up and followed Ian out of the base.

“How you holding up.” Lip asked Mickey.

“I don’t fucken know.”

The sun was rising when they got outside the base so they had been there for a almost  day. They went to the gate where Ian opened the door. Both boys stayed by the gate staring at the outside. Once they left they’d never see Ian again.

“So I guess this is it.” Lip said.

“Yes.”

“Well I hope things go well for you and take care of yourself.”

Lip lightly hit Ian’s shoulder and then walked out the gate, he knew where he was going. Mickey was shaking not really knowing what to say. More than anything he knew these would be his last words. He took a deep breath and faced Ian.

“This won’t make sense but I have to say it.” Mickey said. “I’m sorry for everything I did to you. So I hope somewhere deep in your mind you forgive me.”

Mickey was about to do the stupidest thing in the world but he had to. He grabbed Ian pressed his lips to his. He kept his eyes shut tight and never expected Ian to kiss back. He was waiting for the moment that Ian pushed him away or broke a bone. Except that never came. 

At first Ian froze from Mickey’s touch but slowly Ian kissed back. It was just like before and it felt so real. They broke apart when they needed to breath and they looked into each other’s eyes. Mickey smiled because he could see his Ian again. Ian winked at Mickey then went back into the base.

Mickey wasn’t sure what to do but he stepped out and away from the base. He joined up with Lip and began walking away, not sure of what to expect. They walked in silence for a while before an explosion was heard behind them. Loud sirens filled the air then military jeep came driving by with Ian at the wheel.

“Let’s go.” 

Lip and Mickey jumped into the jeep and Ian hit the gas pedal.

“What the fuck did you do?” Lip asked.

“Chucked a few grenades in the other vehicles to cause a distraction. We’ll go a couple of miles then ditch the jeep.”

“There gonna come after you Ian.” Mickey said.

“No. When we get back we pack and we leave. We’ll figure something out when we’re out of state. I’d rather be out on the run that an army computer.”

♠♣♦♣♠

Back at the Milkovich house Ian and Mickey were scrambling to pack the essentials. Lip was at the kitchen table typing away on his laptop. He’d figure he could find a way to block Ian off from any government access. 

“Call when you're safe.” Mandy said. “And not a moment before.”

“Okay mom.” Mickey said. 

It wasn’t long before there was a knock at the door. Iggy grabbed a shotgun as Mandy went for the door. She lightly opened it and was meet by three MP’s. They pushed into the house but stopped when they were met by a shotgun in the face.

Mandy immediately closed the door and pulled out a handgun. She pushed the barrel against the back of an MP. Lip had stopped typing and Mickey had pulled out his own gun aiming it at the MP’s. Ian stood behind Mickey shaking a bit, afraid of what would happen.

“You get the fuck out of my house or you die and I don’t give a fuck what your uniform is.” Mickey said.

“We just came here to talk.”

“About what?”

“A sort of deal.”

“Really.”

“Yes. Pvt. Gallagher holds valuable information and he obviously has a very strong mind. The head of project o.c. is prepared to leave Pvt. Gallagher alone in exchange of you becoming his caretaker.”

“And what the fuck does that mean?” Mickey questioned.

“You’ll be legally responsible to take care of Pvt. Gallagher and the information he holds.”

“I already do that fuckhead.”

“This will just be a more permanent thing that pays.”

“How much?”

“Three thousand, to cover your expenses and of Pvt. Gallaghers medication.”

“A year?”

“Every month.” 

“Holy shit.”

Mickey looked at his siblings and glanced at Lip. He wanted their opinion in this.

“We just need you to sign a document.”

♠♣♦♣♠

Days later Mickey was having a beer at his house. Mandy insisted on having a party in honor of Ian staying. A lot of crazy things have happened over the last weeks and it called for celebration that it was all over. In the yard Ian was enjoying a beer, glad to feel free and not have to worry about losing the people he loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A kind of fairy tale ending where true loves kiss breaks any spell. Thanks for reading and encouraging me to finish such a different story. Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I came up with this before the events of 5x10, actually way before. I kind of made up my own version and if my research is right bipolar disorder is triggered by a traumatic event, so their you go, someone correct me if I'm wrong so I can have actually info on bipolar disorder. But anyway I'm not sure whether to keep going or not so guess it's up to you if you wanna see where my mind is going with this.


End file.
